Well, I guess this means I’m blogging again—more or less. I spent my time off thinking, and reading, and traveling. Now, I’ve returned to writing. Though, obviously, I didn’t write a real blog post for today. I just have questions for you.
Once upon a time, I wrote a novel. At the time, I belonged to a critique group with about fifteen members. After several months, I left that group for one of four because the smaller group could work through a book quicker. A few months later, I also joined a group of seven or eight, but that didn’t last. Now, with my foursome on hiatus, I’m not sure how I’ll get the needed feedback on the stories I’m writing.
Maybe some of you are supremely confident in writing solo, but except for what you read on this blog, I can’t imagine ever submitting, or publishing, something without it being critiqued, edited, beta-read, then edited again. That’s why I’m curious how you all go about getting feedback on your writing.
- Where do you find your help?
- Are your critiquers all fellow writers? (I presume you incorporate non-writers at beta-read stage.)
- How many people do you involve for the initial feedback?
- Do those answers depend on the length of the work?
Please share your method with me.
My first mistake was joining a critique group. Not really. The group was fine; it was the critique I didn’t know how to take. My previous work wasn’t written with an eye toward publication. Two years ago, that changed, and I decided I needed feedback. Inexperienced, I assumed every member of the group knew more about writing than I did. I took every bit of advice to heart and edited accordingly. Eventually, I learned to evaluate the feedback and use only what I felt made my work stronger.
I was disappointed, to be sure, but I didn’t panic because I had solid responses to his objections. I didn’t start tearing my book apart because I knew every element he questioned was integral to the story. Did my book need work? Obviously, so—I subsequently revised the version he read, adding 16,000 words, though only a small part of those words addressed his issues. Yet his critique nagged me.
Just kidding. She “loved” it. That’s not to say she found no problems with it, but they’re easy fixes. What’s more, in reading through to mark what needs to be fixed, I’ve found other sentences that could be clarified or strengthened. So the editing continues.
Several things conspired this last week to exhaust me physically and mentally. Who knew dogsitting could occupy so much of your time? Of course this was on top of Easter preparations. And then there was the little matter of submitting a requested partial to an agent.
Linda Cassidy Lewis 